The number of teen teetotallers has increased dramatically over the past decade, with more than half now abstaining from alcohol, according to research by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.

The research studied data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey, specifically responses received from teens aged 14 to 17.

It showed the percentage of teens who had not had a drink of alcohol over the past 12 months jumped from 33 per cent in 2001 to just over 50 per cent in 2010.

The findings, published in the scientific journal Addiction, show the trend is across all demographic subgroups, with the authors arguing it's a signifier of a national changing attitude towards alcohol consumption.

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"The last few school surveys have shown the same pattern, that young people are drinking less. The real task here was to try and see well, can we say anything about why it happens or which part of society it's happened in," author Michael Livingston said.

"But it seems to be across the board, it's in all states - it doesn't have any kind of variation by social class, it's boys and girls ... it's across the entire population of teenagers; there's a general shift going on."

Dr Livingston said specific ACT data indicating teen teetotalism had risen from 20 to 40 per cent was less reliable due to the smaller number of responses, but the upward trend was consistent.

Local teens said they weren't surprised the non-drinking figures were so high.

"I know that quite a few people do drink, but I wouldn't say half of teenagers ... I would think the per cent [of non-drinkers] would be higher," 16-year-old Madison Scott said.

Her cousin, 14-year-old Lincoln Smith, agreed.

"There's a few kids I know who drink quite a bit ... but it's only a few of them," he said.

While sports, video games and the ability to download television shows provide plenty of options to occupy their social time, they have also been well educated on the dangers of alcohol consumption.

"In school we learn about alcohol and the effects it can have long term and short term, I think that's probably a factor.

"We learn a lot about ... what can happen with under-age drinking; car accidents, accidents in general," Madison said.

Dr Livingston admitted it was "back to the drawing board" to explain the change in drinking behaviour, with the research showing that stricter liquor policies were more likely to be reflecting changing attitudes than driving them.

The report said more people of all ages were concerned about alcohol-related problems, with studies showing the media were increasingly portraying the dangers of alcohol use.

"[Per-capita alcohol consumption data released this week] showed that we're drinking less alcohol as a nation ... so I suspect there is something broad going on and the data on young people is a stark reflection of that shift.

"The first place that's being shown up in behaviours is around young people - how parents look after their kids and supervise their kids.

"Illicit drug use has gone down in this group as well, so it's not that kids are smoking pot or something instead, there's a general decline in these risky behaviours."